Thin Smile
by xXFissshBonesssXx
Summary: Complete. Finally. ... she looked at me with a thin smile as I fell. After many threatening reviews, I put in the happy ending. Ino dies twice (sorry) I might post the unhappy ending, just for kicks.
1. Bitch

**CHAPTER 1: BITCH**

Hello again. Once i tried to do stories, and then i had to go off for a while ... this is a new story, it'll be something to read while i work on a NarutoGaara story ... this is one sided SakuSasu, one sided NaruSaku and maybe some narusasu, but it's very light. you'll see. there is character death, but it doesn't really count becaues ... well, you'll see. **Rated for major Sakura bashing and some evilIno.**

read on and keep that mask in place as you fool the world with your lies ...

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Naruto laughted, licking the icecream off his face. Sakura, holding his hand, giggled as he got most of the extra ice off his face and took out a napkin to clear away what he'd missed. Naruto held still with some difficulty but managed to let her wipe his face off. Her smile was soft as her fingers as they brushed over his lips, gently pressing to get what was left of the mess off of his face. She put the napkin back on the table next to her purse and took another scoop of her own icecream.

Naruto was seeing stars. Sasuke had been walking up to them but stopped when Sakura wiped his mouth. He'd scowled and stormed off in the opposite direction. Naruto was cheering silently in his head; Sasuke, his great rival and the person who'd never once agreed to go on a date with Sakura-chan, was jealous of him, Naruto Uzumaki, the great!

Naruto laughed inside his head, remembering when he asked Sakura out to lunch one day, just like the thousands of other times he'd asked her. She'd turned around, and after a moment of silence, she smiled and agreed. Naruto nearly had a heart attack and half the village heard his estatic, "HELL YEAH!!!!"

After that, it'd been heaven. Naruto couldn't stop himself from leaping in joy every moment of his life, every second his heart beat, ever time he saw her smile, and everything was just so ... good. Yeah. He patted his pockets for some change and frowned. _/I should've had more money ... darn./_ He turned to the smiling shinobi next to him and smiled sheepishly.

"Eh heh, hey, Sakura-chan? I need to go home and get some more money. Can I leave you here for a minute?" Sakura nodded, all smiles.

"Just don't be too long, Naruto-kun!" Naruto flushed and flustered, jumping up and giving her a thumbs-up.

"No problem! I'll use my super-ninja speed! I'll be back so fast that you won't have time to wonder where I went!" He was about to rush off when he spun around and whispered, "If you were wondering where I was going, I'm gonna go home real quick." Sakura blinked in surprise and then shook her head, giggling.

"Silly. I'll be waiting right here." Naruto grinned as he ran out of the shop, Sakura waved to him as he shot off out the door. She waited a few more moments and then turned back to the counter. The pink haired girl resumed eating her ice cream until a familiar blonde walked up to the empty seat and took it. Sakura looked up and her smile dimmed just a bit as she recgonized the blonde girl.

"Ino ..."

Ever since Sakura had started dating Naruto, the blonde had given her the cold shoulder every time they met. Something was just wrong about the way she acted around her, as if she'd suddenly proclaimed an eternal contest of silence and was bound to win. Ino, oblivious to Sakura's wary gaze, ordered her own frozen treat and waited for it to arrive. Sakura took a slow breath, not wanting to be the one that started the fight. She tried to calm herself by finishing another bite of ice cream, almost getting brain-freeze in the process. She almost smiled as Ino's order arrived and took another spoonful of the ice, momentairily forgetting the threatening presence next to her.

_/Naruto should have gotten to his house by now,/_ she mused to herself,_ /he'll be back soon, then./_ Ino took the first bite of her ice cream and kept her eyes set straight ahead, as if Sakura was invisible. Sakura looked at the other girl out of the corner of her eye. Sakura had purple ice cream and Ino had red. She made a nervous laugh. "Heh ... if I had your ice cream and you had mine, we'd have food matching our clothes."

Ino crinkled her nose, as if the words had offended her somehow. "I wouldn't be caught dead with that dorky dress you wear. Turqouise and red don't flatter each other." Sakura flinched.

"Ino-san, I was just making some conversation ..." Ino couldn't stand it and turned to actually face Sakura.

"Shut up, Haruno," Sakura wincing as Ino slipped back to her surname, "You're sick. Why would you ever associate yourself with that ... thing?" Sakura immeditally knew who Ino was talking about. "You're a freak, cauz' anyone who hangs out with a demon is going to turn into a monster, too." Sakura felt her hand clench unconsciously tighter.

"I beg your pardon? You can't just insult Naruto like that; you can't insult my relationship with him, either." Ino's fist slammed into the table, drawing some heads towards their table.

"Haruno, you don't know what you've gotten yourself involved with! That ... that _thing_ murdered hundreds of people, of **children**, Haruno, men and women and kids half our age without stopping to even notice who it'd killed!!!" Sakura's scowl deepened.

"Take it back." Ino laughed and took another bite of her ice cream. "Look at you. Trying to defend that monster. I know you better than that, Haruno ..." Sakura almost hissed.

"Shut up, Ino! You can't call him a monster! He's not a monster, he's Naruto!"

Ino looked at her with a spiteful smirk. "I know you, Haruno ... you're scared of it, just like the rest of us. You hate it. It's not human, it's not **normal** ... you hate him. You know it." Sakura glared at her former friend and opened her mouth but Ino was still talking.

"I knew no one could love that monster ... espically you. I know about your brother."

Sakura froze. Ino knew she's struck a chord. "Poor, poor Taka," she taunted, sliding the spoonful of ice cream towards her own mouth, "he never stood a chance against the demon." Her words were like venom, seeping through Sakura's skin and slowly poisoning her.

"The demon killed him! I know, my mom told me all about it. The demon ripped off his arms, didn't he?" Sakura flinched. "He was left to die. The monster didn't even give him a proper shinobi's death. Whose fault is it?" She pointed at Sakura with her empty spoon. "That **thing**."

Sakura shook her head and held her hands to her chest. _/Ino ... Naruto's not like that ... he's not ... you're ... you're wrong. You're wrong!/_

"You're wrong, Ino--Naruto's not like that! He'd never kill anything in his life! He loves me, and that's why i started dating him! That's why I love him! Nothing you can do will ever change that!"

The sound of Ino's slap echoed through the whole store.

Sakura felt the sting in her cheek but more in her heart. What had she done to deserve this?

Ino was grabbing Sakura's purse, dumping it upside down. Things spilled everywhere, 100 yen coins, old piece of paper, pens, some assorted hair clips and makeup things, and Ino grabbed the picutre that was in the back pocket. She thrust it into Sakura's face.

"Why? Why then do you have a picture of Sasuke-kun in your purse?!"

When Sakura only gasped, Ino grabbed the dark red lipstick that had tumbled out of her purse and flipped the lid off. Knocking Sakura's head back, she stunned the girl and scribbled kanji on Sakura's forehead, leaving large red splotches every where as she wiped the rest of it down her cheeks and face. The kanji on her forehead read 'oni'. Ino sneered and stood up, glaring at the shocked girl in front of her.

"You bitch--you don't deserve this picture! You don't love that thing--I knew you couldn't! It's not possible to love a monster, no matter what you say! You _whore_! Slut! Bitch!"

Sakura cried out as Ino took her ice cream and dumped it on her head, causing it to begin melting into her soft pink locks on contact. She screamed and Ino gave her a kick to the stomach, the shop filling with laughter as they noticed that it was, _'that girl who dated the demon._' One boy tried to help her but ended up accidently tearing off her sleeve and he laughed at her too.

Sakura felt the water running down her cheeks as she stumbled to her feet, making it to the door as Ino threw her purse at her retreating form.

"Traitor! Sinner! Unfaithful bitch, that's what you are, unfaithful even to a demon! You're just like him! You're just like it! _Get out of here_!"

Sakura ran. She didn't care who saw her. She didn't care who she ran into . She just ran, ran as fast as her feet would carry her. She rubbed at the kanji on her forehead, tears turning the lipstick on her cheeks into rivers of dark red liquid and the cold mixture of icecream and tears and lipstick rolled down her back and chest, soaking her torn shirt.

She tripped as she made it as far away from the shop as she could, and sat down. She fell to her butt and bit her lip, sobs racking her body.

_/What ... what did I do ... what did we do ... all I did was date Naruto .../_ she thought as her tears soaked her already dirty clothes, _/is that so wrong? is it wrong to love, to be with him like that .../_

She felt more tears come and put her face in her arms, sitting with her back to the tree trunk, and sobbed to herself.

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Chapter 1. Hope it wasn't too bad. chapter two, Monster. Please look forwards to it, like, the next time I get on a computer. I'll be working on it ... if I don't get caught. Not really supposed to be on ... later.


	2. Monster

**CHAPTER 2: MONSTER**

Chapter two ... this starts off when Naruto left Sakura. chapter three has more plot, this is just... uh, sorry. i'm still onmeds, my sister told me it'd be stupid to try and type. I got a good buncha reviews ... Thanks, guys! -

read. **Mild verbal abuse (like last chapter) only with Naruto.**

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"Yahooooo!!!"

In high spirits, Naruto made it to the street that led to his apartment in less than three minutes. The day had been perfect! He'd taken Sakura-chan out, first to a toy story, then to a movie, and then they were eating ice cream together! /Man, what a perfect day!/ thought Naruto as he slowed down. There was just another block to go now. Naruto stopped as he spotted the people in front of his door. He crossed his arms.

"And to think the day was going so well ..." he muttered as the five thugs growled and glared at him. The leader, shortest and least bulky, pointed at Naruto.

"You--monster," the word sent ice flashing past Naruto's eyes, "we've had enough of your kind in our village! We've had you here and we won't stand it no longer!"

Naruto growled. "What? No way! I've followed all your stinking rules for years! You can't throw me out all of a sudden!" The man thrust a finger at him.

"Yer' poisoning the good Konoha name! We're known as a freak village cauz'a you! You're the reason we have so many tourists--people come from all over to stare at the freak." Naruto shook and stomped his foot, startling the villagers.

"What's your problem?!" Naruto yelled, furious, "I've lived here for years, almost all my life, and suddenly, out of the BLUE, you decide that today, of all days, you're gonna get rid of me?!" The man glared at him.

"You destoyed my home. You killed my family and cousins! You killed thousands! Yuo ragaved buildings and trashed priceless art without even thinking about it! You laughed at it! You laughed while you consumed everything! You enjoyed it, you freak!!!" Naruto stepped back at the outburst.

"Those are pretty sad reasons, buddy," Naruto barked, "I'm not a demon, I haven't killed anything in my entire life!!!" The men glowered.

"Then you're poisoning the children! Dating the cherry blossom of the Haruno family when she should be with a man! Not some filthy animal! She should have never seen you in the first place." Naruto jumped and stopped simply brushing off words. He snapped up and shot him a look, bloodlust beginning to seep out of his pores as anger boiled in his chest. "... what?" The man knew he could push this and get him really angry, but decided to gamble with it and sneered.

"You're a freak. You're disgusting. You shouldn't have passed at the Ninja Academy--they probably let you by as a joke. You shouldn't have even been let in! You've corruped the minds of the genius Kakashi and the Uchiha genius, and now the poor girl! You shouldn't be allowed to go near her."

Naruto flinched and stared at the group of villagers that had confronted him with a hint of fear. The men sensed this and snickered, hoping the boy wouldn't catch their own nervousness.

"You're a disgrace to all ninjas. Shinobi should be men and boys, not monsters or freaks."

Naruto winced and shrunk down visibly. The head man sneered down at him, his confidence gathered again, and began another verbal assault.

"You defile everything you touch. That Sakura girl ... she's a monster, just like you." Naruto looked up at the words with eyes as wide as they could be as a fist slammed into his face. He went flying back and a man grabbed his collar, face full of rage. Before Naruto began struggling, he recgonized the man as Sakura's own father.

"You freak--you turned my kid against me! She's become a rebel, going against the rules of our house to see you, to take you food! It's against Konoha law to feed demons." Naruto kicked out to no avail as the fist drew back to hit him again. Naruto could barely breathe as he tried to decipher the words. _/ ... freak ... rebel ... demon ... sakura ...??? .../_

With a burst of chakara, he threw the elder Haruno off him with a grunt. The others gritted their teeth and backed away at the display of power, and regathered their anger.

"Monster! Trash! We didn't touch you, but now that you attacked us, we're gonna kill you!" With a yell, the four others lunged for Naruto, each weilding a wrench or pipe. Naruto dodged the first three but the third kicked Naruto into the wall. Taking advantage of the momentairy frozen boy's shock, the man on the floor slammed a steel pipe into his side. Naruto felt like something had decided to try and chop him in half and he yelled in pain as he was slammed against the wall again. This time, he recovered and dodged three incoming shuriken. He finally caught a breath and jumped up, remembering what he'd seen Sasuke do on their first high-class mission. He kicked two men to the side and then chucked a shuriken and kunai at the thrid man while launching himself at the fourth, jabbing his shoulder into the man's stomach and knocking the wind out of him. The villagers regrouped as the man that Naruto had hit fell down and didn't get up. One of them hissed at Sakura's father, "Oi! I thought you said this kid was gonna be a breeze, and he's the one knocking us out!" The man growled back and turned to face Naruto with ice bright in his eyes.

"If you weren't born, my daughter would never have been corrupted. She'd have a nice future with that Uchiha boy. But now I'll have to kill you both for dishonering the Haruno name."

Naruto froze and felt a chill up and down his spine.

For a moment, all he could feel was coldness, and he felt his head lower. One of them men threw a kunai at him and it landed square in his shoulder, blood splurting behind him and splattering on the other man's face. The villagers were rather unnerved at the silence, and felt the temperature drop suddenly. The Haruno present shuddered as Naruto took the kunai from his shoulder and looked at it, speaking softly with a shaky voice.

_"... would you kill your own child?"_

With a gasp, the man nearest the wall dropped to the floor, blood spraying from his mouth and his hands sliced by kunai. His eyes rolled back into his head as the Haruno father shuddered.

"What the hell?!" The other's jaw dropped as Naruto re-appeared behind them.

_"... would you really kill your own flesh and blood?"_

Another man fell to the floor, blood seeping from his head and his knees bent the wrong way. His eyes blinked for the last time at the horrified men as they shut for the last time.

Naruto stepped forwards from where he'd stood before and looked at them, his eyes the color of arctic seas.

_"Would you reall kill Sakura-chan? Your own daughter? I don' tbelieve you. I don't think I need to kill you, too? Because you're just lying ..."_ The old man began to back away.

"You ... you killed ... you'll be charged! With murder, you'll be executed!" With a wail, the last man other than him fell to the floor. The two lone men faced each other, Naruto's face covered with blood. His eyes were still that bright blue, frozen and unbelieving as he gave the last man a smile.

"Tell me the truth. If you say that you won't touch her, that you'll let her go, that you were lying, I'll let you go. You can tattle on me and I'll do whatever. But first, you have to tell me ..." He stretched his arms and stared at the offending man, his pupils the size of pin-points and his irises washed over with ice. "... after your daughter went out with me ... after she proclaimed her love for me a thousand times over ... after telling me everything there was to know about her so that I could devote myself to her happiness and that alone ..." He looked up at the man with a sort of erie calm that shook Haruno Sakura' s father to the core, "... would you still kill her, or let her be happy?"

Naruto turned around, facing the other wall, and waited. The man growled and stared at the back of Naruto's head.

"That girl ... that monster ... is not my daughter."

With a sigh, Naruto stood alone, the last one. The winner.

He looked around at the blood on the ground, on his hands, and laughed to himself as he limped away from his house.

"I don't deserve it ..."

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That's chapter two. Isn't it lovely? I'm still on a steady stream with this killing vibe ... i don't like the next chappie much, but it's gotta be there ... anyway, I'll get working on that. Chapter 3: tears. It's short and sobby. it's fast, too. I'm not good with uh, emotions. ugh. i'm buzzed right now ... um ... later.


	3. Tears

**CHAPTER 3: TEARS**

I know that this takes a while but have you ever tried to do the html stuff? it SUCKS. This is a very, very short chapter, and the next one is nicer. I'm almost done with the first chapter of my next upcoming story. Look forward to it. Thanks for the reviews, I will be having SasuNaru (foreshadowing for chapter 9) and there is character death (ch. 8). I'll work on it till then.

... meh. read.

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All that she could hear now was the cool wind against her hands. She moaned, wondering how long she'd sat where she was. Moving her arm, she felt it bump against something soft and turned to see what it was. She jumped as she realized that someone had sat down next to her, and was bleeding. She gasped.

"Oh my God! Sir, are you all right, can I help y--"

She felt her throat clench. Words couldn't pass her lips but she knelt down next to him and pulled his head to her shoulder. Her fingertips threaded through his spiky locks and tears stained her ripped shirt as they dribbled down along her face and dripped onto his clothes as well.

"Gods ..." He was shaking against her, crying silently, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes.

"Why ..." She looked at him fully. There was blood coming from a cut on his face and his entire body looked as if it had been treated as a pincushion for kunai. His jumpsuit had been slashed in several places by shuriken, splotched with red where he was cut, and his shoulder was bleeding heavily from a deep kunai wound.

"It's not you," she whispered, her tears coming slower now, "it's not your fault ..."

_/Why can't they let you be .../_

"Why won't they leave you alone? Naruto, I ..."

With a sharp sob, Naruto broke away from Sakura's shoulder, rubbing his face to dry the tears. "I ... I can't keep d-doing this, Sakura-chan. If s-shame and embarrassment are all I b-bring on you I might as well g-get going ..." Sakura looked up with wide eyes. _/What do you think you're saying?! Naruto ... I'm not going to let you be beaten by them ... after all .../ _Blood dribbled onto her hand as she watched it slide down to her wrist. Suddenly, something struck her. Something that was perfect. They would be together even if she would achieve it the hard way.

Sniffing, she gathered her wits and said it aloud to him, "Let's get away from it."

Naruto was so stunned that he stopped crying for a moment but then cringed as the pain of his injuries came flooding back to him. He tried, however, to totally absorb what she'd said. After a moment, he looked at her with confused eyes, bordering on fear.

"Y-you ... do you ... want to run away from Konoha?"

Sakura laughed hollowly.

"From everything. From this life. I ... I'm sick of seeing you hurt."

Naruto flushed as dark as the blood that covered him as he looked up.

"R-Really?"

The pink-haired girl leaned back against the tree, looking at him with sad eyes.

"Yes... I want to leave it all behind me ..." Sakura smiled warmly through her eyes, though they were full of pain, and thought to herself, _/I want to leave everything behind me, Naruto, behind us, so we can be together .../_

Shyly, she looked up at him and motioned with her hands as she spoke. "We could ... jump, like off of a bridge ... I-it would only take seconds to pass out ... and then we'd float up to heaven. I'd love to die like that, because you'd be with me ..."

Naruto looked at her for a moment, trying to argue with himself. Did he really want to give up everything ... all the people he knew, the life he had ... all the people, his rivals, his life-long acquaintances, his friends?

He looked back to Sakura for a long minute, his eyes boring into hers, and for a second she felt, for the first time, naked under his gaze, as if he was looking past everything she said and staring into the resolve that she had hidden deep within her heart, and his eyes widened.

"I-we ... We'll do it." Sakura felt herself withdraw a breath of relief. "I ... I have to go home and get ready."

He staggered to his feet, walking away with each word he spoke.

"You know, Sakura-chan, our love is forever. And if I make it there before you ... well ..."

He stopped and looked back over his shoulder, now some distance from Sakura, but the silence seemed to amplify his voice and she felt the full blast of his sad smile as it shone upon her with the brilliance of a thousand suns through the darkness of their dark troubles.

" ... I'd wait for you forever."

Sakura watched him leave before she collapsed against the tree in tears.

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Yay. Another stupid chapter. Do you know how long this crappy HTML stuff takes?! No wonder updating takes so friggin long ... ugh. I cringe just looking back at it all ... shudders anyway, this wasn't fun to write. IF you got questions, ask in a reivew. All flames will be laughed at and extingushed with the back of my foot. I am going to leave you now. please realize that the best part comes when death arrives ... muaha ... next chapter: Will. I'll see you then.


	4. Will

**CHAPTER 4: WILL**

Yes, this WILL be SasuNaru, to the reviewer who wanted to know, but not for a while. Sorry! I gotta build towards it, cauz my friends tell me i'm too blunt. keep reading and I'll get the chapters out soon. read on.

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Naruto was walking. He had a destination to reach, but it would seem far away that no matter how fast he went. Reaching it would just mean a quicker end.

He knew where he was going. Home. To prepare for death.

He had to be prepared, every day, every second. A shinobi could die at any moment under a surprise attack, and anything was dangerous in this world. Naruto knew this. And he embraced it with a smile, letting his arms and legs get cut off by society. He still smiled, and kept everything as normal as possible.

It was always hard.

He'd always tried to keep up the act, the smile on his face, the cheer in his step. No one could put him down. No one could stop him. That was what he shouted to the cold world, and once, he believed that it would give him the energy he needed to reach his goal. He was worn out.

When he'd first taken up this role, he was willing to do anything to prove them wrong. He was willing to go beyond everything. He was willing to win at any cost ... to see them smiling at him.

And he had.

And they'd turned around and left him in the cold ... what was there to live for, anyway?

He laughed softly at his own depression and turned another corner. There was no one else on the last street that led to his house. It was much more quiet now that there wasn't anyone trying to kill him. Naruto stopped for a moment and just stared. In a day, he would leave it all behind. In a day, he would shut his eyes and smile for only himself. No one could chase after him anymore. No one could call him a monster where he was going. It would be him and Sakura, and that thought gave him the strength to take the steps towards the house that seemed so far away. He knew that his steps were uneven as his breathing. The prospect of death, though welcomed, was still frightening.

In a day, he would jump off of the edge of the world and fly into the arms of the darkness that had made his life so horrible ... so not worth the pain ... unrewarding ... life itself was a gift, even if packaged in yesterday's newspaper and tied with second-rate string. It was given so freely, and you were forced to hang on until you were old enough to pick up a knife and end it if it displeased you. That's the way it was.

He reached his door. It was a second before he looked at it. It was a lifetime before he touched the handle. It was a century before he opened the door. It was a millenium before he crossed the threshold. And it was so painful to shut the door behind him.

"Tadima."

Darkness answered him with its usual silence.

He walked through the room, eyeing material items, couch, pillows, bowls of ramen that no longer held his interest. Everything was slowly losing its value. Nothing held meaning anymore. Isn't that what the inevitable death did to you? Isn't that what fate made you into over time? A withered, hopeless, dreamless thing without wings to fly or fins to swim or a voice to sing or even cry out in pain with ...

A million seconds stretched into the moment that he opened his bedroom door. A billion hours beat themselves between the time he sat on his bed and the time he kept his eyes shut. A trillion weeks stretched into the single second he took to hold the covers over his head to hide the fact that he was coming closer and closer to death with every breath without avail.

He stared at the ceiling, focusing on the blankness as if something was there that wanted to be noticed.

Uchiha Sasuke was becoming suspcious. Sakura and Naruto had both gone home, looking rather banged up, but neither had treated their wounds or even changed out of their tattered clothing--they'd both just gone straight to their rooms, albit slowly.

He decided that Sakura was just on PMS and had followed Naruto instead.

Sasuke had stopped and stared at the blonde, and then he'd put out enough chakara to be noticed but not over-threatening. He'd wanted Naruto to come out and find him, but the blonde didn't even sense the chakara, though a few birds and cats began to wander in his direction. Sasukek was annoyed and stopped.

He thought about it worridly. Both Naruto and Sakura should have done something if they'd noticed him at their windows, and he had made sure that his chakara was strong enough to be felt, but neither had reacted visibly, if at all. It was like they weren't alive enough to notice him. For both of them, he was worried.

Firstly, Sakura, the smart one, should've done _something_; jump to her window and look around for an intruder, at least.

Secondly, neither of them was this pensive or calm, and the fact that they were ignoring his presence altogether wasn't encouraging him.

Thirdly, damnit, Naruto was beginning to _talk_ to himself. He'd walked in and announced that he was home when Sasuke knew for a fact that the blonde shinobi didn't live with anyone.

He crouched on the windown and leaned towards it, going as close as he dared without being in direct sight. He pushed away his pride and the urge to bust through the window to just ask what was up in exchange for common sense. Neither of his teammates were acting normal, even for them, and if Sasuke confronted them upfront, he knew that both would deny their own uncharacteristic actions. _/It's time for some solo dective work. Something's up .../_


	5. Pictures

**CHAPTER 5: PICTURES**

This is another weird chapter. It's a little sasunaru, but its real light and confused. Thanks for all your reviews--they make my days less sad and pathetic! - ahhaha. read on.

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Naruto had gotten off the bed and had begun to move his things around. Sasuke watched him silently. The blonde shinobi was silent. Sasuke felt a chill run down his back. It was unnerving to be around the bright-eyed boy and hear nothing but the whisper of the wind and the shifting trees behind you. Sasuke shook off the weird feeling creeping down his spine and went back to watching Naruto--

He froze.

/_What the hell? I'm watching the dobe in his house ... like a stalker ... this is really wrong ..._/

Thoughts of anything but concern for the solomn actions of his teammate slowly slipped away as Naruto kept going about his business like the world was ending. He had cleaned the majority of mess off his floor, put away and folded all of his clothes. Objects that had been hanging on his bed or strewen on the floor had been folded neatly and stashed away, stacks of paper on a table that Sasuke hadn't spotted before because of the mess that had sat atop it. There was a good deal of trash and ramen cups and various weights that he'd stacked in another corner of the room. Naruto turned away from the window, grabbing the few spare ramen cups left out and tossed them in a trash can.

"Might as well do a little good before I leave," he muttered to himself, "the last thing I can do for anyone is show that I wasn't a slob like they thought ... I can still prove them wrong in a way ..." He was talking loud enough for Sasuke to hear him. He was talking loud enough for Sasuke to be worried that others might hear him.

_/Sasuke? Yeah, Naruto's been **whispering** to himself since he got home,/_ informed a voice in the back of his head with a worried tone.

Sasuke caught this little piece of information and wondered briefly if he, too, was going insane. Naruto turned around and took his trash can and threw it on his bed. Sasuke watched in morbid fascination as Naruto threw away picture after picture, countless images of him having fun and smiling with others. The only ones Naruto kept he himself was absent from.

Sasuke noticed all ten: three had Sakura in them, one was of team ten, another of team eight, and another of team seven without him. Another picture had Hinata and Kiba waving while holding hands and the one after that was one that was taken far, far earlier than Sasuke would have liked to remember--when Sakura began to ask him out.

Naruto smiled at the image of his friends laughing at Sasuke's prediciment, and tore the picture in half.

Sasuke jumped. Naruto was clearly loosing it. Why the hell did he rip a perfectly good picture of Sakura up? Was he breaking up with her? Did she do something to make him this way? Maybe that was it. He felt his mind fill with numerous possibilities but the sound of shredding paper brought him back to the current situation. The blonde shinobi was going back through the nine pictures that were still good and ripped Sakura out of all of them.

Sasuke blinked and recounted them: 1 of Hinata and Kiba, 1 of team 10, 1 of team 8, 1 of Iruka and 1 of Kakashi ... and three pictures of Sasuke? Sasuke frowned. He was scowling at the camera in the first one, he hadn't been facing the camera the second time, but the third image was one that he'd remember unfondly for years to come--a picture taken by Naruto when Sasuke was at the beach, covered up to his neck in sand with a pair of sunglasses and a pail on his head like a crown. Sakura had smeared sunscreen on his nose and cheeks, and Naruto had put a pail on his head. Since he had been under pounds of sand, Sasuke of course couldn't move, and had looked at the camera instead with a blush that could be mistaken for a sunburn. Sasuke made a face. The edges of the picture was smudged and Sasuke knew that it had been through a lot. Considering the picture had to survive Naruto's room was a big factor, though, and it had been taken only a year before. Sasuke silently thanked the gods that he hadn't been a picture stuffed away in Naruto's room.

But Naruto's room was relitvley clean now ... it looked like no one had actually been there. Sasuke noticed how much time had passed by the setting of the sun. Naruto looked out the window, straight past Sasuke, and smiled softly. Sasuke went rigid and the blonde boy turned back around.

Sasuke let out a breath of air. Then, he got closer.

For some reason, he **wanted** Naruto to catch him ... to see him peering in through the thin glass ... to yell at him and get out of his house and chase him down ... even to be mad at him ... but the blonde seemed not only wanting to displease Sasuke but bury himself in abnormalaties while doing so. For example, Naruto put away all his jumpsuits and locked the closet door, tossing the key in the garbage can on his bed. He then went downstairs and Sasuke hopped off the branch he'd been perching on, following the blonde through the house until the boy came to his kitchen. There, he locked all his cupboards, all of his drawers and cabinets, everything until it became impossible to access anything unless you broke the door off.

Sasuke was confused as hell. What the hell was Naruto doing? Was he going away? Why hadn't he told anyone? Why wasn't he smiling like an idiot? Why was there this feeling that he needed to kick some sense into Naruto's thick head? The dark-haired boy frowned. _/Why am I worried? It's just the idiot. He's probably just .../_ when Sasuke realized that he couldn't even think straight, he went back to wondering why the hell was wrong with his teammate, and why he felt the urge to make whatever was bothering the blonde better.

Naruto had moved again--this time back to his room and threw himself under the covers. Sasuke held his breath and waited. Inside, he was screaming to himself to get out of there, but something made him wait for the boy to fall asleep.

After he was totally sure that Naruto had traded consciousness for dreams, he crept through the window and examined the room. There were few things left out--the pictures, the pair of shoes, his dresser and a book. Sasuke blinked twice and picked up the book, flipping a few pages. He swallowed when he saw Naruto's odd handwriting and shut the book softly. It wasn't his to read ... it wasn't even his. But still ... there was an odd forboding urge to read the journal. He looked at Naruto, and then the book.

Pushing away his guilty conscious, and sat down on the floor, opening the book to its first pages and began to read.

----

eee. lovley place to cut you off. I'll add the next chapter after my algebra test. later.


	6. Diary

**CHAPTER 6: DIARY**

And in this chapter we get to read parts of Naruto's diary. The reason it took me so long was the internet kept refusing to take my disc and the diary got messed up. All the diary writings are in bold text now. And quotes. That's it.

_/Thoughts/_

"**Diary**"

* * *

**"... and then she smiled at me and said 'yes.' YES--CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?! Sakura-chan, after almost a billion years of asking her out, she finally is going out with me! Hah, take that, Sasuke-teme!"**

Sasuke sweatdropped and kept reading.

**"I laughed so much today! And I talked to Kyuu-chan today. She says that everything is suspicious. I think she's being jealous, but you know, popular guys like me just make girls jealous like that!"** Sasuke shook his head. _/That baka .../_ **"... Sakura-chan is so pretty. Sasuke-teme is just unlucky--I got to go out with her, even though she's been asking him out praktily-praticly-almost all her life. I'm so happy, I could eat a bunch of ramen right now!"**

The entry ended and Sasuke flipped to the next one, looking for more on his relationship with Sakura. **"... today Sakura-chan and I went to see a movie. She was really into it. I thought it sucked! For a moment, I wished Sasuke had taken her instead of me--that way he would be the one stuck watching that mushy gushy crap ... but Sakura-chan hugged me on the way out and she told me that she loved it! I didn't even mind that I spent all of my allowence on tickets, food and drinks! She HUGGED me!!!"**

There was a little cartoon Naruto smiling on the page with hearts for eyes and Sasuke felt himself flip the page. For some reason, he wasn't exactally pleased with the fact that Naruto and Sakura had gotten together so fast. It was his imagination, he tried to tell himself, it was just that he didn't want them to mess up because of each other on the battle field. But some evil voice in his head told him other wise.

 /_... 'you know you're jealous,'/_ it whispered.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and went back to reading.

**"Today, Sakura-chan and me went to train--without that bastard Sasuke! He went to go to the hotsprings, that's what he said, at least. He's weird--who goes to the hotspings in the middle of summer? Anyway, Sakura-chan trained with me! Did I mention that she's soooooo beautiful??!!! She's like the most pretty person on the planet! I did some super-cool jutsus today, and she was so impressed that she let me buy her ice cream! I'm out of cash, but the next mission's tomorrow. I'm gonna take the best one so that I can get more money than that bastard, Sasuke! That way I can buy Sakura-chan the best present! A dinner at the coolest ramen place in Konoha! I can't wait!"** Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned the page.

**"...always really nice to train there. Oh--and guess who asked me out to ramen? SAKURA-CHAN!!! I took her to the best ramen place in town! I mean, it was great! I got to hang around with her and everything! She's so pretty, and I love her sooooo much! I can't believe that I'm going out with her!"**

Sasuke frowned. All of this was similar.

He sighed and flipped a few sections forwards, skimming the pages as he went. For about a month, there was nothing but pages of **'I love SAkura-chan!'** and **'she asked me out again**!' with lots and lots of repeated words. He sighed and looked down at the page again, skimming the first lines.

**"... should have never said yes. I think there's something wrong with me--"**

Sasuke started and looked down at the page again. _/What is this? .../_ He flipped back a page and began to read.

**"Something weird is going on. I turned down Sakura-chan's date to train with Sasuke-teme today. It was really weird. She looked sort of sad but I promised her that I'd take her out after our next mission. Sasuke-teme was a real jerk at first ... didn't even look at me. I had to insult him to get his attention. He's such a bastard."**

Sasuke frowned. This was way different from the other entries. It focused on something other than Sakura. He kept reading.

**"He asked me if I wanted to go swimming after training. I was panting and sweaty and not thinking right and I should have never said yes. I think there's something wrong with me, I mean, It was like he asked me on a date. And I said yes ..."**

Sasuke froze. His eyes kept reading but he was sure that his stomach had dropped out.** "...we had lots of fun. Sasuke and me, I mean. He was really cool today. Well, for him I mean. He talked to me sort of ... It was nice. And then he said good bye. And I felt like he was leaving forever and I ... well, I sort of asked him if we could do it again later sometime."**

Sasuke knew that he was confused now. All of this was just days ago. This was just really ... _weird_, seeing it from Naruto's point of view.

**"... so much fun! And after Sakura-chan said good-bye and went into her house, I went to grab some ramen, and guess who was waiting for me? Sasuke! That bastard stole my favorite seat! But when I got there, he looked at me funny and slid his bowl over and said he wasn't hungry! Well, I thought it was weird, but I guess he just didn't feel good. I mean, there's always room for ramen! So I finished real quick and ran off to find him again. I don't know why, but I did ... and I asked him to go swimming again. He looked at me funny like he did before and then--drumroll _please_--he SMILED!!!! I felt like a stupid girl melting in my shoes! Sakura-chan's smile is like a lightbulb compared to Sasuke's smile! I mean, if he smiled more, not that arrogant smirky thing he does all the time, then he'd get jumped for sure!"**

Here Sasuke took a moment to take in Naruto's change of thoughts.

It seemed that ... well, that Naruto liked him a little. And he ... well, he was happy about it. But ... /_He ... he's in love with Sakura. And I'm not stupid, he's straight as an arrow--he wouldn't understand the word 'gay' if I kissed him again._/ Sighing, he put a hand over his mouth and flushed lightly. Ever since their 'accidental' kiss, he'd been trying to convince himself that the idiot wasn't worth loving, but lately, whenever Naruto was around, he got mad at Sakura, who obviously liked Naruto, but couldn't help being ..._jealous_ of her.

He frowned and flipped a few more pages to find that they were blank. Turning back, he read the last entry in the diary, marked down for a day ago. The very last entry.

**"... just before I said goodbye. And I sort of smiled funny. Iruka-sensei's a good guy. He's like an older brother to me. Something about him is there that I can be comfortable with ... unlike Kakashi-sensei. He's loud and rude and obnoxious and always reads that perverted book ..."**

Sasuke looked up at Naruto's soft breathing, unaware that he'd been only inches away from the book, he was reading the words so carefully. Trying to keep calm, he turned back to the diary and finished reading.

**"And Sakura-chan is just plain beautiful, I mean, look at her!"** Here there was a picture taped into the diary with hearts around its frame. **"She's georgeous! She's really good at genjutsu, too, and she loves ice cream! I'm gonna take her out for some tomorrow. It'll be a great day ... as long as I don't see Sasuke again. I don't want to see him for a while. I'm still confused. I don't know if I like him or not. He's so weird and quiet all the time ... I'm gonna beat his ass one day, though. I'm gonna get stronger than him. And then he'll have to acknowledge me."**

Sasuke frowned and shut the book. There was nothing else to read anyway. He put it back in its place and went back through the open window, shutting it as he left.

There was the softest of moans as Naruto began to wake, and Sasuke wondered if Naruto meant what he had written.

* * *

yay. And tomorrow, the conclusion. Now, there is a chance that they won't kill themselves, so don't leave me yet. Besides, there's a surprise ending. Of course, it's not much of a surprise now that I mention it, is it? For the weak of heart and those of you who love Naruto, you probably don't want to read the 9th chapter. 


	7. Thin Smile

**CHAPTER 7: JUMP**

Once I believed I could fly ... and she looked at me with a thin smile as I fell.

-----------------

"Hey."

Sakura looked up. There was Naruto, in his prime, fourteen years of age, blonde hair, blue eyes dulled to the color of shoe, six whisker-like scars on his face, and a smile that seemed out of place. Sakura stood up to greet him, and found herself unable to speak. Words wouldn't come. Naruto didn't see fit to break the silence that had laid itself between them--Sakura tried to reach out through it, to grab his arm one last time. She wanted to see him smile before the end of everything. Naruto smiled, but it wasn't what she wanted. It wasn't the smile that made her giggle in spite of herself. It wasn't the smile that made her know what she was doing was the best for the both of them. It was just a feeble attempt at holding onto something they were already losing.

As they stood, neither noticed the presence a few meters away, watching them with concerned eyes. He kept the pretense that he was thinking on what to order at the ramen bar and stalled the manager for a few more minutes, all the while listening in on Naruto and Sakura.

"Are you sure ..." Someone grabbed the speaker's hand--

"I'm positive, Naruto. This is the only way."

/_Only way? Only way for what?_/ The black-haired boy decided that he needed to get closer and left a handful of money on the table, darting away before the manager could come back and ask for his order again. Leafing through trees, he found the two teammates at the edge of the gate, and stopped to listen. Naruto smiled softly at Sakura and nodded.

"Fine. We'll go together--I don't mind if you want to hold hands."

Sakura blushed and nodded. "This will be it ... I-I left a note telling Sasuke-kun and Kakashi-sensei why we won't be coming back ... ever."

Sasuke blinked. /_What the hell--/ _

"It'll be just like flying ... and I swear, when we make it to heaven, I'll make you the happiest girl in the universe."

Sasuke froze.

"No."

He shot off to get help as Naruto and Sakura shot out of the village.

Before he realized how fast he was going, Sasuke slammed into someone taller than him. With a grunt, both bodies went flying. Sasuke stood up and looked around, and caught the three kunai that were headed at him with a start. In seconds, he was using them to defend himself from a very annoyed, slightly breathless, white-eyed teenager.

"Who--" Sasuke flipped Neji onto his back and stopped before realizing that this was no time to be fighting. Neji was getting up when Sasuke dropped to his knees and straddled his stomach to hold him down. Neji hissed shortly as Sasuke pushed down sharply on his gut, pain shooting through his body, and he glared up at the black-eyed ninja.

"What the hell are you doing, Uchiha?"

Sasuke shook his head. "We can fight later--Naruto and Sakura are in danger!"

Neji stopped struggling for a moment, concern flashing across his face. "Danger? From what? Who?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I don't know, but I think they're heading for the cliffs near the end of the forest. They left a few seconds ago going as fast as I did." Neji frowned. "Then they'll make it in about five minutes. You stall them--I'll get Kakashi--he can handle those two better than us." Sasuke got up, nodding.

"Thank you," he said. Neji nodded back and both shot off in different directions.

Meanwhile, at the cliffs, Naruto and Sakura were looking down into oblivion. Darkness seemed to swell and ebb at the bottom of the abyss, like some giant shadow waiting to swallow them whole. Naruto looked down, a grin on his face.

"Looks dark and spooky, don't it?" Sakura smiled.

"But you'll be there to keep me in the light, right?" Naruto blushed and nodded, grasping her hand more tightly.

"This is it, then."

They both breathed in deeply. The air was still fresh, the wind twirling around them like a faraway plea, begging for them to remain and live. But Naruto had resolved, his mind set in granite, and nothing would stop him from going over that edge.

"**_Naruto_**!"

Naruto froze.

Sasuke appeared, breathing heavily.

Sakura blushed, staring at the tall, dark teenager. Sasuke growled. "What the hell do you two think you're doing? This place is dangerous, even for us! If you fall, you could be killed!"

Naruto smiled softly, taking Sakura's hand up and showing their joined hands to Sasuke. "That's why we're here."

Sasuke blinked. "... why?"

Naruto stopped, looking into Sasuke's eyes. "Why would you do that, baka? I know you're not that stupid. So many people are worried about you right now! You have a dream, Naruto. Why are you running away from it?"

_/Why are you running from me?/ _

Within the darkened pits of Sasuke's confused and worried eyes was an emotional tide, rushing and swirrling like a seperate universe. Naruto felt something tug in his throat and words became lost to him. Something about the way Sasuke placed the words, carefully and painfully, made Naruto wonder. The grasp around Sakura's hand loosened as their gazes locked.

"You didn't answer, Naruto," said Sasuke softly.

Sakura stiffened and her eyes narrowed. This wasn't supposed to happen ... this wasn't how it went, Sasuke wasn't supposed to **be** here.

Sakura gripped Narutos' hand, reminding him that she existed. He looked down at her and she smiled softly. "Come on, Naruto ... if we hurry, we can meet my dad." Naruto's eyes snapped back to the bright, glazed look that Sakura loved to see. The look that told her that Naruto was eating every word she said, and her eyes softened for a moment as a memory of her father came back to her in a moment. "Maybe ... maybe he'll forgive us and we can be happy."

Naruto's heart still buzzed but his conscious gave it a kick and he grasped Sakura's hand. He stared at their joined hands and gave a soft laugh.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke ... maybe if you hadn't been such a jerk, maybe it wouldn't have had to end this way." Sasuke's eyes widened. "What ..." Naruto took a step backwards towards the edge, still looking at Sasuke with dark, heavy eyes, Sakura's hand in his.

"We could have been friends, real friends. I wanted you to be there for all the good times, the bad times, with me and Sakura-chan ... I ... Sasuke," he sighed and gave the other boy a big smile, "I really had fun, Sasuke. I'll miss you until ... until you get there. I'll see you later, won't I? Won't we?" He smiled and turned to Sakura.

"Let's go." He turned away from the light and Sakura smiled. "Sorry ..."

As Naruto fell, Sakura let her fingers slide through Naruto's hand.

"... but I need to be with my true love."

She smiled softly, her lips forming a thin smile as he fell. Naruto blinked as she moved further and further away. That feeling? When you realize that your entire world just kicked out up-side-down and laughed at you? That feeling when you realized that flying was impossible? That inevitable destination that reached out for you with icy claws? All things came towards Naruto as Sakura was replaced with a black blur and everything slowly dribbled out of the range of importance and he smiled back at her for a moment before she wrinkled her nose in disgust and turned away forever.

It was done. Naruto was dead, and Sasuke was all hers. She had done it. It felt so good to finally be free of Naruto, the extreme burden of a sad, laughing boy who had always tried too hard, who had never fit in, a weak little boy, the child who had cried alone. The demon of Konoha was behind her, and finally, finally, she could be with a human. A man, a real man, the man of her dreams. Now, all that was left was to play maiden in distress and fall right into Sasuke's strong arms. She put a look of horrified distress on her face and turned around.

"Oh, Sasu--"

A blur shot by her and Sasuke plumetted after the blonde. Sakura turned to the edge, stopping before she herself was thrown over.

"SASUKE!!!!!"

The volume of her scream echoed over the walls of the abyss, and Sakura fell to her knees as Kakashi appered, Neji standing next to him. They both looked at Sakura's back and Neji rushed to her, shaking her shoulders.

"Sakura! Where is Sasuke--Where's Naruto?" She looked at him blankly, silence her only answer.

"Sakura! Snap out of it! What happened to ..." He stopped, letting her body go. Sakura fell back against the ground and looked up at Neji's Byakugan, wide, swirling masses of silver and white. She whimpered and shut her eyes. They didn't open.

Kakashi picked her up as Iruka appeared next to them. "She's just fainted. Get her to your house and fix it. I want to know first-hand what happened here." Iruka nodded and took the limp girl in his arms, shooting off back to the village. Neji stared into the abyss with his Byakugan and frowned. "Do you think ..." Kakashi put a hand on Neji's shoulder. The slightly disturbed boy looked up at the silver-haired jounin as he made a few symbols with one hand.

"There's one way to find out. Hold still." In a puff of smoke, the two vanished from sight.

Iruka had just finished putting a wet cloth on Sakura's forehead when Kakashi and Neji knocked on his door. He let them in with a soft visage, his mouth a set line, no emotion leaking past.

Kakashi's mask hid his own emotions as he handed over Naruto's jacket and Sasuke's hitae.

"We looked everywhere." Iruka blinked twice, taking the articles in unsteady hands. "Neji can't see them for miles." He clutched them with damp fingers.

"They shouldn't have gone far, but they're ..."

He looked up at Kakashi, bright eyes protesting even though he knew very well what Kakashi was saying.

"They're gone."

end. chapter

but not end of story. there is another chapter. please read on--they're not --er, I mean, they're not totally gone. please, please, PLEASE don't stop reading. I'll have next chapter up possibly tomorrow because you were so paitent with this one. I'm cramming, and so I've had .000000006 minutes on any wishing for internet time. I have no internet at house. pity me. thank you.


	8. End

**CHAPTER 8: DEATH**

_Once I believed I could fly ... and she looked at me with a thin smile as I fell._

**Warnings**? **MAJOR** Sakura bashing (if you still call it bashing) and some charachter death. I've been slow because from 12-13-04 to 12-17-04, I've gotta cram for some major tests. please bear with me while I study. This might be the last update for a while, and yet, it's the second-to-last chapter ... muhahaha

-----------------

o

* * *

"They're gone." Iruka felt the tears fall down his face.

Neji frowned, his eyes downcast as he shut the door softly behind him.

"Naruto ... Sasuke ..." A bead of water dribbled onto his cheek as his voice cracked. He tried to reason with himself, tried to call them weak, but he felt tears beading down his own face and felt his breath catch in his throat as he tried to push the image of their last expressions out of his head, Naruto's smile and Sasuke's sincere thanks.

"... C-cowards ..." He rubbed his eyes and walked away from the house as a chill settled over Konha.

o

Kakashi had let Iruka cry on his shoulder, the chuunin shaking softly as tears flowed from his eyes. His soft sobs echoed in the quiet room, and the pink-haired figure shifted on the couch. Slowly, Sakura woke, rubbing her eyes. The first thing she saw was Iruka's back. The second thing she saw was Kakashi's arm around him. The third thing she saw was the discarded jacket and hitae that belonged to a lonley black-eyed boy. She jerked upwards.

"Sasuke!"

Kakashi stood up and walked over to her, staring at her wide green eyes with a suspicious expression. "What's that, Sakura?" Sakura jumped up and held her hands together, staring at the door with a shaking grin. "Sasuke, I have to find Sasuke! He didn't go to save that monster! He didn't really jump after that dem--"

There was a sharp smack as Iruka slapped her across the face. Sakura gasped and Kakashi's eye widened. The chuunin glared down at Sakura.

"What did you call him ... _What did you call Naruto_?" Kakashi got up to restrain the younger man as he shouted at the cowering girl on his sofa.

"You cheated him--lead him on, you LIED to his face! To all of us!" Iruka's glare slammed into her like a ton of bricks. "That's low, Haruno, way lower than I expected from a smart girl like you. You said you loved him--you spent days earning his trust, his love, his laughter, everything! You wanted to get to Sasuke, I can see it now, you ugly wench! You used him! You cheated Naruto into believing that you loved him so much that he'd do anything!! Even die! He believed you, you little bitch," hissed Iruka with a crazed look in his eye, flames roaring in his eyes and voice as he rained down on Sakura, a verbal assault like no other.

"Wasn't hard, was it, because **he** was really in love with you!!! He didn't even see it--you led him on, just like a fox! You'd turn and leave him dry in the blink of an eye if Sasuke had said anything, you know it!!!"

Iruka spat at her and she gasped as Kakashi had to actually struggle to restrain the chuunin.

"You're the real monster."

Kakashi no more resistence from the chuunin as he pushed out of his superior's strong grasp and headed for the door. He looked back at Sakura and glared. "Even if Sasuke is alive ... he will never forgive you."

He was gone, but he'd left enough ice in the room to freeze even Kakashi in his footsteps. Kakashi gave Sakura one last glance before leaving her in Iruka's house. For minutes, all that she could feel was the freezing sensation of solitude as she realized that she was the only gennin left on team seven. Darkness clouded her vision and she shook her head, trying to clear it. The pink-haired ninja slumped back against the couch. /_No way ... no was is this happening ... this isn't how it ends!_/

Sakura thought back to her master plan. /_Make Naruto fall in love ... easy. Get Naruto's trust ... even easier. Finally, have Naruto commit suicide and rush into Sasuke's comforting arms and live happily ever after ..._/

Well, the last part didn't quite work out the way she'd planned. But ... it wasn't her fault that Sasuke was dead ... He had rushed off after Naruto, that wasn't supposed to happen--Sasuke wasn't supposed to know anything about this. He was just supposed to be there to catch her when she fell ... why didn't it work?!

Sakura frowned and took a deep breath.

"Ok ... this can't be real. I'm dreaming. First, Iruka-sensei doesn't slap people. Two, Sasuke wouldn't go after Naruto--it's not the way things are. Three, I'm asleep. I'm dreaming. I can't be _awake_ ..." She looked around and picked up a vase.

"If this is real ... this vase will break." She slammed the vase to the floor, and it shattered.

"Ok, so what? I'm still asleep--" She walked over to the sink.

"If I'm not sleeping, then this faucet should have clear water ..." She turned the tap and felt a cool liquid running over her arm. It wasn't purple or blue or pink--it was clear. Sakura shook her head and turned away, leaving the sink on. No--it wasn't a sink--this wasn't even a house. /_It's just a dream, it's just a dream ... a nightmare. It's just very, very realistic--that's it!_/ She turned to the remains of the vase.

"That doesn't prove anything. I can't **die** in a dream ..." She picked up a broken shard and sliced her wrist. There! "Hah! That proves it. If this wasn't a dream, I'd be ... bleeding ..."

She felt the color drain from her face as liquid coursed down her arm.

Warm, red liquid ... blood.

It wasn't a dream.

She was awake.

Sakura shook her head, eyes wild. "N-no, no, this isn't real! I'm alseep! When I wake up, I'll just be on the couch and Sasuke will ask if I'm ok--h-he IS alive! He is! It's not possible ..." She looked at her hands, soaked in blood and she grabbed another piece of the vase, slicing the other wrist. It bled, too.

"NO! This isn't real ... this isn't real! If Sasuke IS dead, then it isn't my fault--it's that demons! Naruto's! That monster killed Sasuke-kun!!! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my g--"

Her throat clogged with blood and she fell to the floor. Water puddled around her wrists, the blood seeping out freely as the water running from the faucet. She gasped and the truth grasped her. Everything was real. Everything was her fault. She led Naruto on--She let him fall. She let Sasuke go after her. She let him fall. Ino was right. She was a bitch.

She was the real monster.

As the blood began to seep through her clothes, she looked outside at the stars. It was a beautiful night. /_Sasuke ... save me .../_

She coughed, blood dribbling out her mouth and down her collar.

"I-if this is a d-dream ... he'll come ... he'll s-save me and ... I'll w-wake up ..."

o

o

* * *

. 

o

The door creaked open and a tall figure stepped into the room. Water and the stench of blood met him and he dashed into the house, locating the body of a girl quickly.

He swooped down next to her and checked her over, looking in girmace at the two slits on her arms. Silently, he pressed two fingers to her cold neck. Nothing. She was dead. The man sighed heavily.

"It wasn't a dream, Sakura," he said softly, his single eye fixed on her still body, " ... and Iruka was right ... you were the real monster."

Kakashi heard Iruka come up behind him and gasp. The silver-haired jounin sighed as Iruka stared at the cold body on his floor. "I'm sorry--we're too late." Kakashi shook his head and took the younger man in his arms. "It's not your fault ... it's ok. From here, it'll be all right. I promise ..." Iruka looked at Sakura, and then at Kakashi, and looked up at Kakashi with teary eyes. "But, Kakashi ... your whole team just about committed suicide. I-I should be worrying about you ..." Iruka sniffed and the tears crept out over his eyes, splashing down his cheeks and Kakashi reached out with a hand, an ungloved hand, smooth and soft, to wipe them away. Iruka blinked at the softness that was carassing him and looked up, wondering if he was in his own dream.

"Am I dreaming?" Iruka waited for him to disappear, for him to feel the covers around his body and for the morning sun to break the vision of something that he desperately needed. The older man slid his hand to catch Iruka's face, forcing their gazes to meet. Kakashi pulled his mask down and Iruka felt blood rush to his face as their lips brushed together, a tender, very real kiss.

"Does this feel like a dream?" Iruka let his hands clench and then curl around Kakashi's arm. A blush spread across his face like fire and he held on for his life.

"If it is ... I don't want to wake up."

Kakashi smiled. "You don't have to."

o

ooo

* * *

o

ooo

again, this is **NOT THE LAST CHAPTER**!!!!! please, wait a few more days an' i'll get it done ... it's ending on the next one, I swear ...

sorry that i'm leaving you where you are, but we still have some things to catch up with w/ naruto and sasuke. i know we didn't see much of them this time, but they're coming, i swerr ... please, please tell a friend and review! I love this. too bad it's almost over. :)

I don't believe I'm actually gonna finish a story ... i never finish stories, so this is a big deal for me ... and it's a big deal since I haven't updated this story in like an entire three months. CU all in a few days!


	9. Linger

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**CHAPTER 9: LINGER**

please, please, please just read the entire thing. don't freak out if someone's ... not alive ... or something ... (---) Some major character death. Please don't hurt me.

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Far, far away, something shimmered. A smile flashed and something came running down the hills. There was a crash, and then it got up, grinning silly. "That was fun, that was fun!" it sang, laughing and looking up at the form still on the top of the hill. "Come on down! Come on down! The grass is fine!" Another figure rolled down the hill and crashed into the first, sending them both tumling towards a bright, clear lake. They stopped, and the younger of the two straddled the older's stomach, laughing and pulling at his silky black hair. The other boy smiled and slapped his hands away, rolling over and sitting up.

"That _was_ fun, you idiot." The blonde laughed.

"I'm not an idiot, you're stupid, too!" They grinned at each other and then laughed again. Once the silence returned, it was all they could to to keep smiles on their faces.

"So this is Limbo," whispered the boy with black hair, "it's really nice." The boy with hair like sunshine sat up. "Yeah. It's great. I can't wait for Sakura-chan to get here!" His companion flinched and looked at him seriously.

"You don't believe that she's following you, do you, Naruto?" Said boy smiled and looked out over the lake.

"Of course--she loves me, Sasuke! And I told her, I'm gonna wait forever!!!"

Sasuke frowned and pushed him onto the grass, leaning over his face, looking into his eyes. Naruto felt his chest heat from the close contact, and he felt a rush of blood to his face, but something in Limbo prevented any negetive feelings, and all he could recgonize from the emotions swelling in him were confusion and excitement. "H-hey ... what's up, Sasuke?"

The raven-haired boy ran a hand over Naruto's cheek. "Why? Why would you wait for a stupid girl who's only going to hurt you more?" Naruto took Sasuke's hand and played with it for a while. "... cauz' she said she loved me. I believe her, Sasuke. I really do. Why do you ask?" Sasuke sighed and laid back in the grass next to him. There were no pesky bugs here or curious animals to distract them, not even the wind blew as Sasuke gathered his thoughts about himself and set out trying to tell Naruto what he had to say.

"Naruto ... Sakura was playing you." Naruto looked over at him. "Huh?"

"She was leading you on, she didn't really love you. She just wanted to have you commit suicide willingly, and then you'd be out of the way and it wouldn't have been her fault, but it was, because she influenced you to! You wouldn't be here--WE wouldn't be here--if Sakura hadn't tried to manipulate you ..."

Sasuke took a breath and put a hand in his hair, pushing back his bangs. He didn't want to put it this way, but Naruto wouldn't get it any other way.

"Naruto, Sakura didn't love you."

Naruto's eyes widened and Sasuke saw the ice shatter in them. A bright blue sea gushed out and tears poured down his face without him noticing. It seemed that the power of Limbo only restricted strong negative feelings that would lead to physical destruction--anything that was sad or depressing could obviously be said or felt here. Only anger was taboo. For a while, Sasuke wondered if he'd done the right thing. It would be really bad to let Naruto suffer alone right now, so Sasuke pulled the blonde into his arms, and Naruto broke, tears pouring out of his eyes, and sobs taking his body by surprise.

Sasuke felt his heart clench at the sight of the blonde sobbing on his shoulder, and he forgot Sakura, forgot the world, and wrapped himself around Naruto, holding him close. All he could think about was stopping the tears. "Shh, Naruto, it ... it's ok, look, I'm here. It'll be ok. You'll get over her."

Naruto choked and sobbed through tears. "B-but ... s-she said, she s-said she l-l-loved m-me!" He hiccupped and buried his head in Sasuke's chest. Sasuke sighed and put a hand in Naruto's hair. They stayed like that for a while, shaking and crying and feeling the things that so freely rushed through them now. Sasuke felt Naruto take a deep breath and try to stop his shuddering. He curled into a ball, and Sasuke felt terrible at the sight of the boy he knew so well putting up his defences against anything. For a while, all they did was sit and wait it out. But 'for a while' doesn't last forever, and finally, Naruto uncurled himself and looked up at Sasuke.

"... why did you ..." Sasuke cocked his head and rose an eyebrow. Naruto screwed himself up looked at Sasuke with nervous eyes. "... why, Sakura didn't follow me. Why'd you jump off after me?" Sasuke's reply was instantanious.

"Because I couldn't let you go."

They stared at each other for the longest time. Naruto spoke first.

"So ... does that mean ... Sasuke, that doesn' t make sense."

"I like guys."

"Huh?"

"... I'm gay, ok?" Naruto blinked and grinned through the tears, a fraction of his old self shining though.

"Ooooh. Wow ... Never saw that coming, what, with your huge fan-clubs." Sasuke flushed as Naruto broke into a short bout of laughter.

"Stop laughing. It's not really easy to say that."

"Yes it is; I'm gay too."

"Naruto, don't make fun of me."

"I'm not. I ... I don't know. Remember when we went swimming? I... I liked seeing you in your swimming trunks."

"... really?"

"Hell yeah--and you smiled, do you know how attractive that is?"

"You know we sound like schoolgirls, duscussing things about boys?" They both laughed at this.

"We do sound like girls, don't we?"

"But you don't like looking at girls, do you, Sasu-chaaaan?"

"Shut up. I thought we were having a serious conversation about our sexuality over here?"

"But that'd mean ... like, confessing your love for me or something."

"Yeah, something like that." Naruto stopped grinning.

"... you ..." Sasuke looked at him. His face was solomn, his jaw set in a grim, determined line, and his eyes fixed on the prize: Naruto.

"I haven't been more serious about anything. I didn't even stop to think before I threw myself over that cliff to go after you. I didn't think about my brother, I didn't think about the clan I was abandoning. I didn't even think about any of the people I was leaving behind, I didn't give anyone a second thought. I only knew that I had to follow you because I hadn't told you ..." Naruto felt something huge coming on. Not as in words, evidentally, because Sasuke was about a breath away from his face, and he felt himself gasp into the mouth that softly closed on his own.

The wind peaked around a tree and whispered into the trees and rushed through the grass and found them sitting by the brilliant blue lake, lips clasped and eyes closed in sensual bliss. It danced around them and shot into the air, taking the doubt and confusion off of their shoulders, and when Naruto opened his eyes again, Sasuke was smiling at him.

"Hey, Naruto. I'll only smile for you if you promise to come with me to heaven." Naruto blushed and then bilnked. "H-hey--how did you know I liked your smile?" Sasuke rubbed his arm and looked at the grass. "I--well, you were sleeping, and I, uh ..." Naruto blinked and laughed at the great Uchiha Sasuke struggling to put together a sentance in front o fhim. "I-I read your diary that night." Naruto gasped, though smiling, "You read my journal?! It's not a diary! You evil bastard! How could you! I have some of my most deepest, darkest secrets in there!" Sasuke rose an eyebrow. "All I saw was 'Sakura-chan', 'Sakura-chan', 'Sakura-chan.' There was but one page on me. I feel neglected," he whined. Naruto took Sasuke's head and pulled it close, like a teddy bear. "Shaddup," he commanded as he rolled over and put his head next to Sasuke's on the grass, "It's nice out. Let's sit here for a while." Sasuke nodded. "Hn."

Neither boy kept track of the time. Sasuke didn't go to heaven because Naruto wouldn't go to heaven. Days passed before they knew it.

Weeks.

Months.

Neither boy was conscious of the seasons flying by and somewhere along the first year, Sasuke realized that they were still in Limbo, because every second or so, something would phase by them, a soul, flashing for judgement. Some stayed longer than others but eventually all of them faded into the sky or sunk into the earth. But Sasuke looked at his hands and realized something about himself and Naruto. Neither was going to heaven for some reason.

On a cold morning, Sasuke and Naruto sat in front of the frozen lake, a blanket from who knew-(who cared?)-where around their legs. Naruto was just looking at the water when a question made its way out of his mouth.

"Are we going to heaven?"

Sasuke looked over at him. "Sure we are. I'm ready to go, but you're not. So we're not leaving until you're ready to go. I can wait forever, Naruto."

The blonde blushed and leaned on Sasuke's shoulder. "Thanks."

More days passed and the snow on the lake melted away.

More weeks passed and the sky grew warm again.

More months passed and soon another year had gone by.

Neither boy remembered pain. Neither boy knew what lonliness was anymore. Neither cared if they were still waiting for something; this was their paradise. It would have stayed that way for ever and to all eternity, if one person hadn't shown up.

It was another day. Naruto and Sasuke didn't tire of the brilliant morning that woke them, never tired of the spring that they bathed in, never minded the same breeze that dried them and forgot the repeated hours they spent just laughing and playing with each other. Humans longed for companionship, but the soul didn't need it. These two didn't need any other but each other. Until the day.

Sasuke dried his hair and Naruto laughed at something. Sasuke looked up and froze. Naruto was playing with a man. Usually, Sasuke would just smile and join them, but this man was special. This was a tall, black-haired man who wore a long, black and blue cape with red clouds along it. Sasuke felt his throat clench and he choked on the forgotten name that passed dry lips.

"Itachi."

The name brought Naruto and Sasuke's brother out of their moment of laughter together and they turned to see Sasuke staring at them with a silent question. Itachi looked over his brother and smiled.

"Sasuke, you idiot. You had to go and die, didn't you?"

Sasuke dropped to his knees. His hands twitched to do something but he couldn't be angry at this man, just as Itachi couldn't hate him and his eyes shut and opened, and tears poured down his cheeks without his noticing it. "Y-you ..." Sasuke's throat went dry and nothing rescued him from ending the sentance there. Naruto looked at Itachi and then walked over to Sasuke, putting an arm around him.

"Hey," he muttered, "hey--what's wrong? This is your brother."

Sasuke hugged himself. "B-but I was supposed to kill him. H-He killed my entire family!" Shaking, Sasuke fought desperately to remember anger, fury, the pain that this man had sentanced him to when he destroyed their lives forever.

Nothing came.

Itachi sat down next to Sasuke and forced their eyes to meet, and he smiled softly. "Hey, kiddo--I'm sorry."

Sasuke felt his entire body cease functioning and this time he felt the tears pour from his eyes as his brother smiled down at him and kissed his forehead, wrapping warm arms around Sasuke's body and the black-haired boy trembled, his anger, his fear, the pain he used to associate this man with suddenly seemed utterly and totally stupid and didn't make sense any more. This was his brother.

This was the boy who first taught him how to throw shuriken and kunai. This was the boy who showed him father's secret scrolls in his spare time. This was the boy who laughed and smacked him on the head when he won a race against someone twice his size.

This was his brother.

Suddenly, Sasuke felt very small, and he gripped Itachi's cloak, pulling it off his shoulders and throwing his arms around his older brother's waist. Naruto smiled as Sasuke openly sobbed into the older boy's dark blue shirt.

Itachi rubbed Sasuke's back comfortingly, a smile playing on his face. "Hey ... why are you still here? I was sure you'd go straight on to mom and dad after dying." Sasuke looked up from his brother's shirt, sniffing and rubbing his eyes. "S-shut up," he muttered through a hiccup, "yo-you still killed them ..." Itachi smiled down at his little brother.

"Hm? Did I? Ah ... I suppose I did." The smile faltered and he allowed something sad to flicker across his face before Naruto sat down in between the both of them.

"You're both impossible," he announced, glaring at both Uchiha with something like amusement and irritation at the same time, "you're dead. We're all dead. What does it matter anymore? You made a mistake, but now it's behind you." Naruto's smile beamed as he looked up at the two wide-eyed brothers.

"You're here, and you have each other, and that's all that matters."

Sasuke shook his head at Naruto's point-blank logic and Itachi chuckled softly. Naruto flipped over and nuzzled into Sasuke's stomach, Itachi's eyebrow rising a fraction at his younger brother. "Interesting," he muttered quietly, but then louder, and with a smile in his tone, "you were always a little slow, Sasuke. Had to get yourself killed to get it across to him?" Sasuke made an indignant noise.

"Not my fault," he muttered, blushing and leaning his head on Itachi's shoulder, "Naruto's just thick."

"Hey! I resent that!"

"Mm-hm."

"Hey you two, when are we leaving?" Naruto looked up from Sasuke and stared at Itachi.

"Well, I'm waiting for Sakura-chan. I promised her that I'd wait ..." his eyes squinted a little as the sun met the horizon, clouds bleeding a brilliant red orange sky, "... until she got here." The older Uchiha nodded. "That's fine-"_ '...until she got here.'_ Itachi's eyes widened.

"Naruto-kun ..." The blonde had fallen asleep. Sasuke shrugged and looked up at his brother. "Hm?"

Itachi stared into the setting sun with somewhat of a troubled look on his face. "What if she's already gone?" Sasuke froze.

"What?"

Itachi's gaze was steady and somewhat troubled. "This--Sakura?--may have already passed on without your knowing." He looked down at Naruto with some regret. "This one may not be ready to hear, though, but I wonder... You two have stayed here because you're not willing to move on. You linger because you have a reason to hold on. Naruto's waiting and you're waiting for him." Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "So? Far as I know, Sakura has yet to die, of old age or assasination, and then she has to be judged. I've seen people linger for mone than a week here." A person appeared in Limbo, smiling at them, and then just as suddenly, phased away again. Sasuke's eyes widened in comprehension.

"She could have been judged on the turn of a dime," he whispered, "she may be gone already." Itachi nodded.

"You've been here longer than me ... by the way, how did you die?"

Sasuke grinned sheepishly. "Jumped after Naruto."

Itachi cocked his head to one side. "'Jumped?'"

Sasuke nodded. "Off a cliff."

"Aa."

"You would have done the same thing for the one you loved."

"The one I loved never jumped off cliffs."

"What did they do then?"

"Not telling."

Sasuke pulled a face as his older brother grinned down at him, a tongue sticking out at him from between teeth. "That's so mature, Itachi-onii," he muttered, letting his head rest against his brother's shoulder. Itachi just smiled as the sun set, and the colors abosorbed the feelings of confusion and anything else like a sponge, and then drifted down with the imaginary sun into a deep darkness that wasn't even really dark.

Night beat a dull rythem around them and time began to drift.

Every day after that was harrowing. Sasuke became visibly strained. Itachi had little left holding him back from going to heaven to reunite with the rest of the Uchiha clan, yet he paitently waited for his little brother. Sasuke told him that it would be futile, but Itachi insisted. Every day they spent together, the more Sasuke realized how much his brother had ment to him. Naruto grew even more happy, with another Uchiha at his side, he easily had enough joy for anyone else Sasuke was missing in his life. However, Naruto continuiously avoided the question of moving on, and refused to even hear anything about Sakura leaving without him. "She'll be here," he would say, "I promised her I'd wait." Itachi came up with a proposition, a few weeks later.

"One hundred years."

Naruto and Sasuke were in the lake, swimming with trunks and inflatable doughnuts, when Itachi stopped them and told them what he meant.

"The average life span is seventy-eight years. If Sakura was as old as you, add the time you've spent here, and once one hundred years have passed, you'll know for sure if she's gone or not." Naruto was reluctant to agree, but with Sasuke beside him, it seemed like a reasonable agreement. "One hundred years," Naruto sighed, smiling up at the sky, "I'll see you, Sakura-chan. We'll all go to heaven, and then we can be at peace."

The days grew shorter, and the seasons passed. People came and people went. It was like traveling. Many faces were new, most were old, some were young, some were their age, but they never aged themselves. Naruto was always Naruto, Sasuke was always Sasuke, and Itachi was always Itachi, sixteen, sixteen, and twenty-one. They could only keep track of the years by a calander in the sky, a system of stars that Itachi slowly taught Sasuke to read. In the years that passed, people from Konoha met them as they died. Naruto was always sad, and they always lingered for at least day to cheer him up before moving on to the next life. First was Shikamaru.

"Funny," he muttered, "how troublesome women can be." He'd died in a mission, saving Ino.

Ino died in a mission protecting their child. Chouji also died protecting that child. Naruto never met him. Part of Sasuke was glad, and part of him was curious of what that young life was like.

Shino and Tenten came together, laughing softly and joking with each other about how missions were never really their thing, anyway. Naruto persuaded Tenten to stay with them in Limbo for a while, and after a while, Shino passed on in his sleep. Tenten smiled and said that she would wait for Neji and Lee, who were still alive.

Hinata and her younger sister arrived abruptly with their father. All three had been assasinated in their sleep. Naruto and Hinata took a full day reassuring Hanabi that it would be 'ok'.

Iruka came. Naruto was surprised that he stayed for longer than a day but nodded knowingly as Kakashi appeared a week later. Sasuke watched in morbid respect as they disappeared together, smiling softly at Naruto and Sasuke and Itachi, who held their hands firmly together as the light enveloped their teachers.

Neji appeared suddenly one day, flopping down right next to Sasuke. He was taller, more muscular and had sleek, black hair down to his waist. His bright white eyes survied his surroundings before catching sight of others. The black-haired man shook his head and looked over at the Uchiha as Sasuke eyed him with shock. Neji grinned. "You were always slow, Uchiha," he muttered, "I was sure you'd have died by now. Idiot ..."

Sasuke frowned. "Go disappear."

Neji shook his head. "'M waiting."

Itachi looked interested. "For who?"

There was another poof and a boy in green dropped down next to him. Naruto's eyes widened. "How the hell did YOU die?"

Gaara shrugged. "_Sepukku_."

Sasuke winced. "Why?"

"I had to follow this idiot," Gaara said simply, nodding at Neji, "he owes me."

The red head, clad in jade to match his eyes, pushed Neji to the ground and kissed him soundly on the lips. Sasuke looked over at Naruto, who was making faces at the couple until the sand from Gaara's ever-present gourd slunk over and caught him, grabbing him and chucking him into the lake. Itachi watched him sail away and then turned to Sasuke, who was backing away from the sand with some caution. "I want one," muttered Itachi, looking enviously at Gaara's sand.

The two broke apart and Gaara looked up. "Where's Naruto?" Itachi pointed at the pond absently, picking up Gaara's gourd to more closely examine it.

"Pond. Sand." Gaara seemed to get it and wandered off to drag him out of the water.

Once they were all together, Gaara looked at Naruto. "Where are they?" Naruto blinked. "Hm?" Gaara pointed to Naruto's stomach. "Demons. Mine's gone." Naruto suddenly realized that Gaara was right. His demon hadn't spoken to him since death ... even before death ... Drawing his chakara, he lifted his shirt and saw no seal. Itachi frowned and used his Shiringan. "You're normal." Naruto pouted, and Sasuke wondered what was wrong. "Naruto? What's this about demons?" Gaara turned and explained the entire deal in less than twenty words.

"We both had demons sealed into us at birth. I had Shukaku, Naruto had Kyuubi." Sasuke just nodded. "... oh. Well, where did they go?" Naruto looked at the ground. "I don't know."

Gaara and Neji looked at Naruto and Sasuke and Itachi and frowned. "Where are we?" Itachi shrugged and a sign conviently popped out of the ground.

"_Limbo_," read Gaara, "_the in-between_."

Neji's eyes narrowed. "Well, why are we still here?"

Gaara shrugged. Sasuke leaned back against Naruto. "You're probably just waiting for someone." Neji blushed and looked at the ground. "Y-yeah ..." Gaara shook his head. Sasuke frowned. "Well ... who is it?" Neji, for all the time he'd spent building up mental barriers and walls around his feelings, couldn't keep back the brilliant blush that spread across his cheeks, the same color as Gaara's hair.

Naruto grinned. "Aw." Itachi rolled his eyes at Naruto's immaturity, picking up the flower chain he'd been working on.

"He's waiting for Lee," grumbled Gaara although with a slightly smug face, "doesn't want to go to heaven without his best man." Sasuke's face displayed confusion and Neji flushed.

"W-we got married," the flustered Hyuuga muttered, "and Lee was best man."

Naruto looked floored for only a second before proceeding to glomp both boys. Gaara shoved the estatic boy off, though he didn't look half angry at the blonde, and Neji just laughed at his antics. Sasuke and Itachi shook their heads, then eyed each other in surprise at their similar reactions.

Time went by, and more people came. It was such a happy occasion to meet up with an old friend, and it was an even harder time when they decided to move on. Itachi counted fifty years that they'd been waiting, and Sasuke looked over at Naruto, who was smiling anyway. "Sasuke, she'll be here. And we can go to heaven, and I'll make you smile every day for the rest of forever."

And Sasuke would smile, nodding, and it would be forgotten for another year.

Itachi counted seventy five years when Lee appeared with a pop. Apparently, one could choose their age upon entering Limbo. He appeared only twenty-five years old, shook his head, looking around at the people who surrounded him, wide-eyed and covered with flowering crowns, and then sighed.

"I suppose this is what I get for being assasinated."

Neji choked and lunged at the boy, surprising him out of his mind as he was tackled to the ground. Lee stayed a year when he realized Tenten was still there and the two of them decided to wait it out with Naruto and Sasuke.

The black-haired Uchiha and his blonde companion sat at the top of a hill, because it was there to sit on, and gazed out onto the horizon that appeared because the mood was right, and Naruto snuggled into Sasuke's chest, smiling towards the invisible ends of the earth. "I love it here," he whispered softly. "I can't wait to see what Heaven looks like." Sasuke smiled and ran his hand through Naruto's hair.

"Whatever. As long as you're there, you idiot. I'm not letting you go off on your own." Naruto nodded and the light disappeared, the sound of a fire lighting echoing to their ears from the valley where the others were staying.

It was the last day of the hundreth year. Sasuke was swimming, Neji and Naruto were picking apples, Gaara and Itachi were playing with the sand near the banks. And no one was really aware of the person coming towards them from the cold horizon. They walked slowly, with something like a limp. The blonde looked up with a soft smile and made her way over to the group of familiar faces.

Tenten saw her first. "Ino-chan!" She rushed over and helped the staggering girl over. Ino laughed hollowly and allowed the much younger chinese girl to help her over to the group of astonished children. Naruto's eyes were round as saucers.

"_Ino-chan_?"

Ino was old. Aged like the mountains, she'd come to the land of Limbo in the body of her choice, and she'd chosen the one that she'd died in. It was old and weak, but familiar, warm, and ... lonley. She sat down with some trouble at the edge of the group as Itachi handed her a blanket and Gaara made the sand crowd up like a chair for her to lean against. Sasuke offered her some hot water and she thanked him softly, taking the cup in wrinkled hands that made his eyes widen. Everyone was in shock. When one went to Limbo, they chose the body in which they would spend the next eternity, and yet, here, the most vain of the girls from their childhood had chosen this form ... Tenten and Lee reguarded her with some respect, and it slowly settled over the groups conscious, though unspoken, that with age, Ino had gained something else. A sort of knowing emnited from her, and she seemed very different, though the laughter in her eyes was ageless. The blonde woman coughed and smiled.

"I see you're still straggling behind. Who's holding you all up?" Everyone turned to Naruto. The blonde blushed.

"Ano, I'm waiting for Sakura-chan." Ino stopped to think for a moment. "Hmm ... you look familiar," she muttered, "you do ... ah. Naruto. That troublemaker." Her face sobered horribly and Neji asked what the matter was. Ino smiled weakly.

"It was only after he left the village when everyone realized how much he meant to us. We really cared for the brat, even though he always made trouble for us. Why, after a few years, I had to rename some of the pranksters after him. They'd paint the hero mountain and make messes just for the reprimanding and attention. We still think that he was a great help to us, and we are greatful for what he left us and our people with."

Tenten stopped her. "You don't make any sense ... who's 'us' and 'we'?" Ino blinked and then smiled softly.

"Aa. Didn't I mention? I became Hokage after a while."

Sasuke and Naruto gave eachother wide-eyed looks but returned their gazes back to Ino as she continued.

"You've all been up here a while. I don't suppose any of you bothered to tell Naruto that he's been waiting for nothing?" The blonde blinked blankly for a moment and then laughed. "Ino-chan, that's silly! Sakura-chan's coming, she promised."

Ino looked at the sky, a sad gleam in her eye. "What are promises but whispered words between two fools?"

Naruto felt a chunk of his resolve slip into an untouchable raviene. "Ino-chan ... what do you mean?" Gaara and Neji glanced at each other guiltily. Lee and Tenten didn't say anything. Itachi shook his head. _'I knew this was to be the outcome._' He shook his head again as Ino looked into Naruto's eyes.

"Shortly after Naruto and Sasuke were proclaimed missing, Sakura was pronounced dead."

Naruto felt his heart stop.

Sasuke felt the warm hand against his slip away.

"But ..."

The blonde shuddered once and Sasuke wrapped his arms around the sobbing boys' suddenly small figure. Naruto could seem so young sometimes, mused Sasuke to himself with an understanding gaze that couldn't find Naruto's eyes. The heart-tearing sobs from the hyper boy pierced everyone's consciouses as tears poured from the corners of his shut eyes. He didn't scream or yell, the fact that he only sobbed quietly to himself surprised most of the others there.

"Naruto," whispered Gaara softly, Neji hugging his arm for support. Ino sighed and shut her own eyes. Tenten sniffed and leaned into Lee's shoulder, and he patted her back whilst keeping his gaze on the shaking boy in orange. Itachi put a hand on his brother's shoulders and Sasuke rose one hand to meet it, a silent thanks for the equally silent support. Naruto's despair spread like a disease. Tenten and Lee soon gave way to their own tears, and Neji rubbed furiously at his own eyes while Gaara looked up to the sky in surprise. There was water on his cheeks, but never before had it rained in Limbo without clouds. Also, it seemed that the water only appeared on their faces, and none on the grass or the trees or the lakes. He realized, with a start, that he was crying.

Suddenly, the sobs stopped and Naruto looked up at the sky. "I promised someone that I'd wait ..."

Sasuke smiled gently at the blonde and wiped the tear from his eye. "Don't wait for someone who's already there."

Naruto's eyes widened and a smile spread over his face, and the tears seemed to lift from his face. The sunshine that had always lit his features returned with the brilliance trippled and suddenly the tears lifted from their faces, and they left the ground. Lee yelped, the sensation of weightlessness new to him, and Tenten giggled, being so light filled her and Ino with some of their old laughter.

Sasuke grasped Naruto's hand and Itachi smiled at the two as they flew even higher than the others. Naruto's eyes watered again as Sasuke wrapped his arms around the blonde and they looked into the light, nothing hindering them as they floated towards the sky.

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... ... ... end.

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Well? Do you hate it? I'm not the best romantic, and NaruSasu is really difficult to write ... and I'm really, relly sorry that they had to die, but there really wasn't any other way for this story to end.

... or is there? I could write another ending, depending on your state of disturbid-ness on this, but it would be really boring. Just romancy mush between Naruto and Sasuke, living normal lives at the bottom of a demon-filled raviene ... (-0winkwink)

Thanks for finishing the story. I had a hard time ending it, because I hate letting go of these plots. I'll CU later. (sniff) bye!!!


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